I was first sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia on 24 June 2010.

I was born in Barry, Wales in 1961.  My father worked as a psychiatric nurse and my mother was a cook in an aged care home.  My parents brought us to Australia in 1966 to give us a better life and I grew up in Adelaide.  I attended Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School in South Australia where I was a school prefect and a keen debater.  During high school I took on my first job, it was peeling vegetables and serving meals in the aged care home where my mum worked.
I started my arts and law degree at the University of Adelaide and became involved in a campaign against education funding cuts.  In 1983 I was elected National Education Vice-President of the Australian Union of Students (AUS) and moved to Melbourne to complete my degree at Melbourne University.  Later that year, I was elected President of the AUS.  I joined the Carlton Branch of ALP while studying at university and served as its President.

After graduating I began work as a solicitor in Melbourne with the law firm Slater and Gordon and became a partner in 1990. My work at the firm focused on employment law.  I worked on securing fairer treatment for workers and fought for clothing trades outworkers who had been underpaid.

From 1996 to 1998, I served as Chief-of-Staff to the then Opposition Leader of the State of Victoria, John Brumby.

I first contested the Federal seat of Lalor for the Australian Labor Party in 1998 and was elected that year.

From 1998 to 2001, I served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Workplace Relations.

In 2001, I was appointed Shadow Minister for Population and Immigration and subsequently took on responsibilities for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs in 2003.  From 2003 to 2006, I was Shadow Minister for Health.  On 4 December 2006, I became Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party and served as Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Social Inclusion.

Labor’s victory at the 2007 election was one of the proudest moments of my life.  We fought this election knowing Australians deserved better and I am determined to continue to move Australia forward. Following our victory I was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education; Employment and Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion before becoming Prime Minister.

I live my partner Tim Mathieson at The Lodge in Canberra.  We met at a hairdressing salon in Fitzroy where we would often talk about politics.

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Often portrayed by those who know him well as very erudite and politically astute, as well as one who brings a philosophical approach to most issues, Freundel Jerome Stuart still possesses that common touch that propelled him into elective politics almost 20 years ago and endears him to his St. Michael South constituents.

Born on April 27, 1951, and raised in the rural parish of St. Philip, a stone's throw away from the familiar Six + Roads landmark, the quiet, unassuming intellectual credits his late mother, Eulene Stuart, with instilling the core values that have guided and sustained him since childhood.  His father passed away when he was 9 years old.

He was educated at the St. Marks Boys' and St. Martin's Junior, Schools in St. Philip, before entering the Christ Church Boys' Foundation School (now the Christ Church Foundation School) in 1960.  There, he came under the tutelage and influence of his mentor, headmaster Lee Harford Skeete (Latin and Law), as well as teachers Gilpin Jones (Spanish) and Colin "Couchie" Reid (Latin).

However, it was his classics teacher and counsellor, Lee Harford Skeete, who had the greatest effect on him at school.  Small wonder he delved into classical studies during his latter years at Boys' Foundation and ever since thereafter.  Indeed, such was the impact that Mr. Skeete had on him, that he resolved at an early age to pursue a legal career.  His Law Chambers were named "Harford Chambers" after Lee Harford Skeete.

On graduating from Boys' Foundation School, Freundel Stuart taught Spanish and History at the Princess Margaret Secondary School, where he again rubbed shoulders with school friends like Robert (Bobby) Morris, Anthony Wiltshire, the late Cameron Taylor, and others.   He studied for and obtained a B.A. honours degree in Political Science and History from the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies in 1975.

He later re-entered the Cave Hill Campus, this time the Faculty of Law, and began studies which led to the LL.B. (Hons.) degree in 1980.

From 1980 to 1982 he pursued the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Public International Law also at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, before proceeding to the Hugh Wooding Law School to pursue the Legal Education Certificate.

Mr. Stuart was called to the Barbados Bar in 1984 where he practised Criminal and, later, Civil Law. He was admitted to the Inner Bar in  March 2008 and appointed a Queen's Counsel.

His interest in politics was piqued from the early 1960's.   This drove him to join the Democratic Labour Party officially in 1970.  "This Party", he said, "has always subscribed to and promoted the ideals and principles that I hold dear."

He has been a stalwart of the Democratic Labour Party and has functioned in various capacities and executive positions in the Party, including that of President.

He entered elective politics in 1994, in the St. Philip South Constituency when he was successful and remained in Parliament until 1999.  He lost that seat in the elections of that year.   He later switched ridings, and returned to Parliament after the 2008 general elections, which saw the Democratic Labour Party recapturing the reins of government with a 20-10 result.

Prior to that, he served in the Upper House (Senate) from 2003 to 2007.

Since 2008, Mr. Stuart has been Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, and Deputy Prime Minister. He acted as Prime Minister from May 2010 when his predecessor, David Thompson, became ill.  After Mr. Thompson's untimely death on October 23, 2010, Mr. Stuart assumed the position of Barbados 7th Prime Minister.

Over the years, he has supported many community organisations, including the Dayrells United Achievers Community Club and the Notre Dame Sports Club.

An avid reader, thinker and disciplinarian, he also lists poetry, classical literature and history as areas that consume much of the spare time he finds.

Mr. Stuart is single and the father of one daughter, Julienne, who is a sociology graduate of the University of the West Indies.

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The Hon Philemon Yang
Prime Minister, Cameroon

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Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada's 22nd Prime Minister on February 6, 2006.

Mr. Harper was first elected to the House of Commons in 1993 as the Reform Party of Canada Member of Parliament for Calgary West. He stepped down in 1997 to become Vice President (later President) of the National Citizens Coalition, a non-partisan Canadian organization that advocates for individual freedoms and accountable government. In 2002, Mr. Harper won the leadership of the Canadian Alliance, became Leader of the Official Opposition and returned to the House as MP for Calgary Southwest.

In 2003, the members of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada voted to unite as the new Conservative Party of Canada, and selected Mr. Harper as their first leader.

Under his leadership, the Conservatives gained 25 seats in the 2004 federal election, largely as a result of a major breakthrough in Canada's most populous province, Ontario. Two years later, Canadians gave Mr. Harper and his party a mandate to form a Conservative government for the first time in 13 years.

In 2008, the Harper-led Conservatives were returned to office with a larger seat count and a mandate to guide Canada through the volatile economic conditions presaging the worst global recession in half a century.

On May 2, 2011, he again led the Conservative Party of Canada to victory, this time with a historic strong, stable, national majority government.

Now in his third term, Prime Minister Harper is working hard to secure Canada's economic recovery. The Government is focused on its top priority -- the economy -- as it keeps taxes low, eliminates the deficit and lays the foundations for long-term prosperity.

Prime Minister Harper is also continuing to advance Canadians' interests and values on the international stage. Last year Canada hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the G8 and G20 summits, and a Royal Tour by Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. Her grandson, Prince William and his new bride Catherine Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will tour Canada this summer. This will be one of their first official activities as a couple. Under the Prime Minister's leadership, Canada is an increasingly popular home for major international events, with the FIFA Women's World Cup, the Pan-American Games and the Para Pan-Am Games having been awarded to Canada.

Stephen Harper was born on April 30, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario. He moved to Alberta in 1978 to work in the petroleum industry and went on to obtain both a bachelor's and a master's degree in economics from the University of Calgary. Mr. Harper and his wife Laureen have two children, Benjamin and Rachel, and maintain a permanent home in Calgary.

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HE Armando Guebuza
President, Mozambique

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I Hifikepunye Pohamba , was a member of OPO . When OPO was dissolved and replaced by SWAPO in 1960 I became a founding member of the new organisation SWAPO, while in Tsumeb under employment of TCL . In 1960 October, I left TCL for the then Owamboland to be a full-time SWAPO mobilizer under regional leadership of Mzee Simon Kaukungwa , Eliaser Tuhadeleni and Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo. 

In June 1961 I was arrested, detained and kept in chain at Ohangwena Tribal headquarters. After several days under detention was brought before a tribal court on charges of political agitation etc.

The tribal senior headmen acting on the instruction of a white South African Bantu Commissioner stationed at Oshikango sentenced me to be flogged 24 strokes with a branch of a Makalani tree. 

In August 1961 I left my home village, Okanghudi , in the company of my comrades France (Mushingiwodila) Daniel and Villioh (Shiayafa  Haitembu for abroad, to Tanganyika via Bechuanaland, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia respectively. 

I arrived in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanganyika on the country's independence day, 9th December 1961.

In May 1962 SWAPO leadership in exile sent me from Tanganyika back to Namibia together with Comrade Eliander Mwatale . The Southern Rhodesia authorities then arrested us, as we were about to cross the border into (Bechuanaland) Botswana. Kept in Southern Rhodesian prison for two months after which we were deported to South Africa on 1st August 1962.

On arrival at Jan Smart Airp ort we were arrested and detained for some hours after which we were released and ordered to leave South Africa with in 48 hours. We left Johannesburg by train for (SWA) Namibia and arrived in Windhoek on 8th August 1962.

After approximately 7 days in Windhoek, police arrested us on charges that we had left the country unlawfully and that we were politically agitating the people to rise against the SW African government. 

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Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON, and President, Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was born to a humble Niger Delta family of canoe makers on November 20, 1957. Growing up in the warmth of a close knit family, Dr. Jonathan had humble yet adventurous beginnings. In spite of the enchanting beauty of the Niger Delta and the pristine innocence of those times, the young Jonathan rather than take after the family trade, chose to go to school.

He attended St. Stephens and St. Michaels Primary Schools, Oloibiri, finishing in 1969. He proceeded to Mater Dei High School, Imiringi, where he passed his West African School Certificate with flying colours in 1975.

On completion of his secondary education, he worked as a Preventive Officer with the Nigerian Customs Service for two years before proceeding to the University of Port Harcourt as one of the pioneer students of the new university nestling on the shores of the Choba River. He chose Zoology. As a child he had been fascinated with nature, and growing up by the shores of the intertwining rivers and waterways of the Niger Delta, aquatic life was second nature.

He graduated with Second Class Upper honours in 1981. In 1985 and 1995 he studied for his Master’s and Ph.D degrees in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology, and Zoology respectively, from the same University. But this was not until he had completed his mandatory one year of National Youth Service in Iresi, old Oyo State, now Osun State of Nigeria.

Returning to the warm embrace of family and friends in 1982, he was appointed as Science Inspector of Education, Rivers State Ministry of Education, while studying in between for his post-graduate and graduate degrees. Between 1983 and 1993 he took up employment as a lecturer in the Department of Biological Science, Rivers State College of Education.

In 1993, he was appointed Assistant Director (Ecology of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in charge of Environmental Protection. Working in a developmental environment, his desire to better of the lot of the people motivated him to answer the call to service. He resigned his job in 1998 and went into politics.

His honesty, simplicity, charisma, quiet strength and determination made him an ideal running mate to Chief D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha on the Bayelsa People’s Democratic Party, PDP, gubernatorial ticket. They won the elections, and he served as a Deputy Governor from 1999 to 11 December 2005. On 12 December that year, he became the substantive Governor of Bayelsa State.

It wasn’t long after that fate once again beckoned. He was busy preparing for re election to his first full term as substantive governor, when the PDP, which is the largest political party in Africa, nominated him as running mate to the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua. After a keenly contested election, the Yar’adua/Jonathan ticket won, and on May 29, 2007, he was inaugurated as Nigeria’s Vice President.

Precisely on February 9, 2010, Dr. Jonathan assumed office as Nigeria’s Acting President by virtue of a National Assembly resolution empowering him as Acting President, following President Yar’Adua’s long absence for medical attention in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was sworn-in on May, 6, 2010 as President, Commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria following the passing away of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010. On May 29, 2011, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan took oath as President and Commander in Chief, after his victory in the 2011 Presidential election.

Dr. Jonathan has received several local and international awards. He was voted the ‘Best performing Deputy Governor’ in 2002 by IPAN, given the ‘Democracy and Good Governance Award’ by Nigeria Union of Journalists in 2004. The Africa International News magazine league conferred on him the ‘Niger Delta Development Award’; the Nigerian Bar Association, the ‘Distinguished Personality’ award in 2006, and the All African Students Union in South Africa, the ‘Africa Leadership Award 2006’.

Additionally, the Nigerian Union of Teachers voted him the ‘Best Performing Governor in Education in the South-South’ in 2006. He was also recognized by the International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) in 22 July 2006, with ‘Ambassador for Peace Merit Award’ as well as the ‘Leadership and Good Governance Merit Award’.

Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is married to Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, and the union is blessed with children.

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Paul Kagame was born in October 1957 in Rwanda’s Southern Province. His family fled pre-independence ethnic persecution and violence in 1960, crossing into Uganda where Kagame spent thirty years as a refugee. Determined to resist oppressive regimes, as a young man, Paul Kagame joined current Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni and his group of guerrilla fighters to launch a war to free Uganda from dictatorship. Under the new government, he served as a senior military officer.

In 1990, Paul Kagame returned to Rwanda to lead the Rwandan Patriotic Front’s (RPF) four-year struggle to liberate the country from the autocratic and divisive order established since independence. Led by Kagame, the Rwanda Patriotic Army defeated the genocidal government in July 1994 and the RPF subsequently set Rwanda on its current course towards reconciliation, nation building and socioeconomic development.

Paul Kagame was appointed Vice-President and Minister for Defence in the Government of National Unity on 19 July 1994, and four years later was elected Chairman of the RPF, a partner in the Government of National Unity. On 22 April 2000 Paul Kagame took the Oath of Office as President of the Republic of Rwanda after being elected by the Transitional National Assembly.

President Kagame has received recognition for his leadership in peace building and reconciliation, development, good governance, promotion of human rights and women’s empowerment, and advancement of education and ICT, and is widely sought after to address regional and international audiences on a range of issues including African development, leadership, and the potential of ICT as a dynamic industry as well as an enabler for Africa’s socioeconomic transformation. President Kagame currently serves as co-chair along with Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero of Spain, of the UNSG's Advisory Group on MDGs and as co-chair along with Carlos Slim of the  ITU's Broadband Commission.

Paul Kagame is married to Jeannette Nyiramongi and they have four children. He is a keen tennis player and football fan.

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HE Jakaya Kikwete
President, Tanzania

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Dr. the Hon. Denzil Llewellyn Douglas was sworn in as the Second Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis immediately following the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Partys impressive election victory in July 1995.

Re-elected in March 2000, Dr. Douglas St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party again won a resounding third term on October 25th with 7 of the 8 seats on St. Kitts in the 11-member St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly.

Dr. Douglas is also Minister of Finance, Information, Technology and Sustainable Development, Tourism, Sports and Culture.

·         Born in the north island village of St. Pauls in January 1953.

·         First Young Labour Representative on the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party National Executive.

·         Obtained Bachelor of Science degree in 1977.

·         Obtained medical degree in 1984.

·         Established private medical practice as a family physician in 1986.

·         Served as President of the St. Kitts-Nevis Medical Association in the late 1980s.

·         Elected Deputy Chairman of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party in 1987.

·         Elected Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher 6 (Newton Ground/ Harris) in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in 1989.

·         Appointed Leader of Her Majestys Loyal Opposition in 1989.

·         Elected National Political Leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party in 1989.

·         Restructured and re-energized the party in preparation for its decisive 1995 victory.

·         Appointed Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in 1995.

·         Re-appointed Prime Minister in March 2000 and again in October 2004.

As Prime Minister, Dr. Douglas plays an active leadership role in many regional and international organisations:

·         Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

·         Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB)

·         Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

·         Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)

·         Association of Caribbean States (ACS)

·         Organisation of American States (OAS)

·         International Monetary Fund (IMF)

·         World Bank

·         Commonwealth

·         United Nations

·         Small States Forum of the World Bank

Dr. Douglas has made history by being the first Caribbean Leader to receive the Ghandi- King-Ikeda Peace Award and was also honoured as an outstanding graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and is the recipient of a Legacy Award from the American Foundation of the University of the West Indies in New York.

The Republic of China on Taiwan and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela recently decorated Prime Minister Douglas with the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon and the Order of the Liberator (First Class) respectively.

A Florida State senator and a Miami Commissioner have honoured Dr. Douglas for his outstanding leadership not only in St. Kitts and Nevis, but also regionally and internationally and has been recognised Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City for his many contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS.

United States President, the Hon. George Bush and former U.S. President, the Hon. Bill Clinton praised Prime Minister Douglas for his leadership role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

In November 2005, Prime Minister Douglas was presented with a plaque by prominent United States Congressman, the Hon. Charles Rangel for distinguished and unblemished record of service to humanity and for his leadership and tireless, progressive contributions to his country and to the entire Caribbean Community.

The United States Congressional Black Caucus also presented a plaque to Dr. Douglas.

He is the Prime Ministerial spokesman on HIV/AIDS and other health related matters in the CARICOM quasi Cabinet.

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President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the 5th President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, assumed his second term of office on November 19, 2010.

He established a record in Sri Lankan political history with being the first Executive President to lead his party to a landslide victory in Parliamentary Elections held just over two months after being elected for a second term of office as Executive President with an overwhelming majority of 1,842,749, polling 6,015,934 votes.

His success in Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in January and April, 2010 came after a series of sweeping victories in elections to eight Provincial Councils by the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by him. The UPFA now has an over two thirds majority in parliament.

President Rajapaksa was elected for a second term of office in the Presidential Election held on January 26, 2010, with the Sri Lankan electorate recognizing him as the national leader who liberated the country from the terrorism of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and set the country on the path to peace and rapid economic development

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The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, is the seventh and current Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. She was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26, 2010 and is the country's first female Prime Minister. Persad-Bissessar is the political leader of the United National Congress and leads the People's Partnership, a coalition of five parties, formed for the general election of 24 May 2010.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs

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